The Stockholm Stock Exchange kicked off the new week at a slower pace. Monday's trading began with rising prices, but as lunchtime approached, momentum slowed and the index dipped below zero. Just before 1 p.m., the index was nearly unchanged. The earnings season has taken a brief pause, with figures coming in from smaller companies.

At 12:50 p.m., the OMXS30 index was up 0.01 percent at 3,120.78. Shares worth approximately SEK 8.8 billion had changed hands on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

The best performance among the major industrial sectors was seen in telecoms, which climbed 1.12 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, technology was the weakest, down 1.07 percent.

Among the leading stocks included in the OMXS30 index, EQT rose 4.3 percent, while Tele2 B was up 3.7 percent. The worst performers were H&M B, down 3.0 percent, and Skanska B, which fell 2.4 percent.

Tele2's main owner, Freya Investissement, announced in a press release that it intends to increase its stake to 27 percent over the coming months. Freya currently owns about 19 percent of the telecom operator's capital. Tele2 climbed 3.7 percent on the news.

The Persson family continued to buy shares in clothing company H&M. Through Ramsbury Invest, they made a relatively small share purchase of SEK 75 million. As of February 2, they now hold 65.98 percent of the capital and 83.73 percent of the voting rights in H&M. The stock fell 3 percent.

Investment company Svolder's net asset value dropped by SEK 2 last week to SEK 54 per share. Svolder rose 0.5 percent.

One of the few earnings reports released was from Kjell & Company, which had previously issued a profit warning. The final figures were in line with the preliminary ones, showing a negative operating result of -SEK 6.2 million. Adjusted EBITA amounted to SEK 37.8 million. The stock rose 8.6 percent.

Environmental technology company Scandinavian Enviro plunged 67.4 percent after announcing that its partner Infiniteria had sent a claim for around EUR 54 million, or about SEK 575 million. Enviro disputes the claims in their entirety and considers them unfounded.

A couple of recommendation changes came in during the morning.

UBS initiated coverage of Electrolux with a neutral rating. The stock rose 1 percent.

Bernstein downgraded Volvo Cars to underperform from market perform. The stock climbed 1.8 percent.

Danske Bank downgraded Skanska to hold from buy. Handelsbanken downgraded it to sell from hold. Skanska fell 2.4 percent.

Handelsbanken upgraded Knowit to buy from hold. Knowit rose 3.5 percent.

SB1 Markets upgraded Vitec to buy from neutral. Vitec rose 1.5 percent.